I've been kind of curious about romance as a genre, and the ratings/reviews/synopsis convinced me this was as good a place to start as any? But honestly, while I had a decent time and felt some of the feelings (not so much towards the pairing, though, ironically — I've read some pretty steamy scenes, and for me this really wasn't it. No, my favorite part was those two little girls, mischievous but looking for a place to call home), I wasn't really impressed.

There are tropes upon tropes upon tropes, and while I'm not opposed to them on principle, I felt like there wasn't enough development to balance them out. Each "twist" was telegraphed several chapters before it happened, so much of the drama was unnecessary, and I had a hard time keeping up with the actual romance in a way that made me really want them to end up together.

Still, this could definitely be a case of "it's not the book, it's me." I like a little more excitement and unpredictability in my reads, after all, but I can definitely see the appeal in the comfortable.

I received a free copy of this book through Amazon First Reads. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

Rating may change later, it's an ambivalent four stars (which I think is new for me!).

I suspect this book will go widely overlooked, and it deserves better because it is an incredible debut. While I would not recommend it for everyone, for the right reader this one will be magical.

The premise, the execution — minus a few things that I'll elaborate on in a bit — the clever turns of phrase and apt analogies, the mix of tender and heartbreaking and straight tense moments: this story is well-constructed, with enough mystery to keep you guessing without putting itself in the mystery genre; you won't be able to figure out Ursa's story based on the bits and pieces she tells Jo and Gabe, so you can feel their frustration. I had a great time reading about their nest hunting and kitten adventures and mini-roadtrips and rainy days in.

With the tranquil pacing (which is not to say that this book is boring! Just that the storylines and conflicts are mostly long-term, and there is lots of focus given to development, which I really liked) each character is given so much room to grow and learn and doubt, and it shows in their interactions with each other and the world. If you read the summary you probably picked up on the "found family" theme, which is so tenderly written. This is very much a character-driven novel, though the plot does have several noteworthy peaks. (No spoilers here!)

I really liked the characters, and I sympathized with them, and I loved their complexities, but somehow I had trouble really connecting with them. Maybe it's because the three main characters are all very guarded in different ways, or maybe it's the sometimes-too-clinical debates (which do represent both sides on issues like gun control, femininity, and mental health, though sometimes it felt skewed and/or a little shallow); there are also a few ethical situations that made me slightly uncomfortable. Part of it is definitely because I can't relate to their specific circumstances.

That said, I do think these highly personal topics could have been handled a little more sensitively. Jo mentions several times that she feels like "less of a woman" after her preventative surgeries, and sometimes it felt like Gabe's mental health conditions were listed rather than really developed (anxiety and depression and agoraphobia, and I believe Jo's anxiety is mentioned briefly in the beginning but never again). There is also a scene in which Jo essentially tells him to "just get over" his depression — which he refutes, but it does happen. And that's not to mention Ursa's clear symptoms of trauma. The ending feels slightly hand-wavey "love conquers all," which was disappointing considering all the thorough development that characterized the majority of the narrative. Please take care of your own mental health if you need to, while reading this book. 

Overall, though, I had no trouble getting or staying in the narrative, and I wanted so badly for things to go right for our heroes. (Believe in Ursa's quarks!) At its core this is a story about home and love and family and recovery, and it's a great one.

I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss for review. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

The professed goal of this book is to make military strategy “interesting and accessible” to the average reader, and they definitely accomplished that. Some of the essays are really insightful and draw thought-provoking parallels between Star Wars and modern military protocol, while others read more like awkward fanfiction; overall, though, I did gain a better understanding and increased appreciation for the art of war.

I received a review copy from the author through #ReviewPit. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

This is a fun book, and I think for the right readers it'll be a great hit. Although the main characters are high school upperclassmen (older teenagers/upper YA), I found the themes and general vibe closer to MG/lower YA, so it may very well resonate more strongly with members/readers of that demographic. Which is not to say that it's simple (in fact, one thing I particularly enjoyed was how the narrative presents ethical dilemmas and the role of personal perspective), just that it's not really my cup of tea.

The characters are mostly likable, if rather quirky/weird; the main storyline is entertaining — though I did think the romance, including the love triangle, was a bit excessive — with several twists which you'll know are coming, because the narrative has several instances of "Little did s/he know, things would go terribly wrong later" (I found it a little tiring, but it does contribute some extra tension in case the heist/ransom scheming isn't enough for you). The ending is a little cheesy, but overall quite satisfying; I had a good time with this one.

I received a review copy from the author through #ReviewPit. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

content warnings: addiction, substance use/abuse, some ableist language.

Although I was intrigued by the artist/athlete conflict and related to Sami's determination to pursue both, I had some trouble keeping up with her abrupt switches between desperately wanting to fit in with the volleyball team, and wanting to be friends (or more) with Brenna and Jason. The progression between major plot points also felt abrupt rather than natural, and Sami makes a lot of bad decisions (even knowing at the time that they're bad) — realistic for a teenager, perhaps, but exasperating to read over and over. Overall, it felt like a very binary setup (artist or athlete, Goshenite or Fasha, Aquamarine or sober, etc.) and the ending felt rushed.

See, my parents thought that since I liked reading already, why not try and make it even more educational by getting me SAT-vocabulary focused books? The jury is still out on whether or not it worked, but this novel is so ... unique that it left quite an impression. And I barely noticed the vocabulary, so there's that too, I guess.

I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

Buddy read with Alaina! ❤

I wanted to like this much more than I did, but because it was so plot-driven (and, at times, I couldn't even keep up with the convoluted, fast-paced plot) I just never connected with this story. The worldbuilding and characters have potential, but for a first book in a series I really wanted to see more - especially from Malachiasz, who is one of the main three characters (and who I thought had the most interesting storyline) but for some inexplicable reason isn't one of the narrators?

So between that and what felt to me like insta-(hate-to-)love rather than forbidden-romance, this just isn't a book for me, and the epilogue really didn't hook me for the sequel either.

I received a review copy of this book through Xpresso Book Tours for the blog tour. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

I was intrigued by the opening, since I'm a fan of start at the end and rewind to see how we got here, but unfortunately it was downhill from there.

Rose just irritated me with her constant judgment of everyone else around her: her parents' decision to leave their well-off upbringings to help found a hippie commune, her much prettier "cousin"/best friend Destiny (you know the type — "If I didn't love her like a sister, I would hate her because her life is so easy because she's so beautiful [and mine isn't because I'm not]"), and the other girls she encounters at school. She also spends a lot of time bemoaning her hand-me-downs from Goodwill, and (later on) the unfair choice between having a cell phone and computer and Internet or "moving into a cave ... or a hippie commune" because those are apparently the only options. Throughout the book, her focus is almost exclusively focused on creating a future with Andrew and confirming the identity of her biological father; while it's her prerogative, I found it hard to relate or sympathize because ultimately she doesn't seem to do much to achieve either — she just thinks about them a lot.

I also found the writing itself awkward. The dialogue was really stilted, working to further the plot rather than developing the characters and their relationships; there was little in the way of concrete plot, and the scenes/snippets that were detailed didn't really interest me. The ending was also disappointing; without going into spoilers, I felt that it undermined all the buildup — it wasn't bad in and of itself, just really abrupt.

Spoiler

The full-circle ending where they return to the commune to live with River, with the understanding that Rose's daughters will someday have the option to leave just as she did

was kind of nice, but also felt arbitrary and appended on to the rest of the narrative.

So all in all, this really wasn't for me. But if you want a comfortable, predictable read with lots of family dynamics and domestic scenes, this might be one for you.

I received an advance review copy through Edelweiss. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

This is a really detailed account, with clear passion and reverence for art and for Michelangelo's mastery of the craft; I loved all the studies (and Pascuzzi's own copies) that were included, since the subject matter is so visual.

That said, the author's ego — which I don't mean in a derogatory sense, but I couldn't come up with a better way to phrase it — was a little too prominent for me to enjoy this as much as I wanted to. Perhaps I should've expected it, given that it's a highly personal account and thus as much (or even more so) about the author than Michelangelo, but I wasn't quite prepared. Some of the offhand comments and pure conjecture could have been omitted, as well as generalizations about the Artistic Experience that I found myself disagreeing with. For example:

But ultimately the making of art is not a science to be objectively studied and analyzed; it is a passion that, to be understood, must be felt and experienced from the inside.

I'll spare you the rant on STEAM / how science and art are not mutually exclusive and, in fact, can (should) have a mutualistic relationship, because I do respect that art is a very subjective experience and there are some things that science can not (yet) quantify. But again, I don't agree with this statement, nor with a lot of the other sweeping statements that are made in this book.

So it's kind of a shame, because the concept is fascinating.